Golden Tales of Greece

Golden Tales of Greece

by Compton Mackenzie

Golden Tales of Greece

1 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Compton Mackenzie was born into a theatrical family. His father, Edward Compton, was an actor and theatre company manager; his sister, Fay Compton, starred in many of James M. Barrie's plays, including Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. He was educated at St Paul's School and Magdalen College, Oxford where he obtained a degree in Modern History.

Mackenzie was married three times and aside from his writing also worked as an actor, political activist, and broadcaster. He served with British Intelligence in the Eastern Mediterranean during World War I, later publishing four books on his experiences. Compton Mackenzie was from 1920–1923 Tenant of Herm and Jethou and he shares many similarities to the central character in D.H. Lawrence's short story The Man Who Loved Islands, despite Lawrence saying "the man is no more he than I am." Mackenzie at first asked Secker, who published both authors, not to print the story and it was left out of one collection.

Reviews

[James]

4.5. A simple and entertaining retelling of four semi-historical tales, that of: Perseus; Jason, the argonauts and the Golden Fleece; Achilles, and Theseus.

The only snippets I knew from Greek mythology before reading it had been passively absorbed over 34 years (and from reading Circe). This was a good basic overview for me which made sense of parts I was familiar with.

There were nice illustrations, and family trees that also helped to keep track of who’s who.

I originally thought Greek mythology was completely fictitious (supernatural gods and all) but I realised when Ariadne married and fell in love with Dionysos, the god of wine, after reaching the lowest point in her life, that the gods could actually be symbolic; in this case an interpretation of alcoholism. Human events might have all been attributed to supernatural forces in the minds of the Greeks.

The stories of Perseus and Theseus were my favourite. There were of course tragedies, people throwing themselves off cliffs, betrayals and slain monsters.

I was into it. I’ve got Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad on the bedside table to read. I’m sure they’ll be complicated and dense compared to this, but it was a great place to start.

[Frank]

Beautifully illustrated & easy read - good for first-timers to greek mythology.

[AndrewP]

Semi historical depending on how much you like to believe.